


Remember

by Tori22Ferrante



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Retrospective, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:42:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23183443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tori22Ferrante/pseuds/Tori22Ferrante
Summary: Dina can't sleep, so instead she thinks about how wonderful it is that she and Ellie are together.Constructive criticism is always welcome, hope you guys like it :)
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 105





	Remember

It’s late at night in Jackson, spring is fast approaching the settlement in which the days are warming up but the nights are still too cold, and it’s the perfect temperature for Dina to cuddle up to Ellie and wrap them both in the blankets. Even though Dina is exhausted from her shift at the hospital she still can’t seem to fall asleep. Normally Ellie would try and stay awake with her, but she’s been working just as much. Going on patrols trying to catch game, repairing parts of the wall that took some damage during the heavy winter, and taking watch tower shifts. This leaves Dina with the rare opportunity to just watch Ellie sleep. Ellie and Dina arrived home at the same time for once tonight, and after a quick dinner they simply crawled into bed and held each other. Ellie is the taller of the two but she always sleeps with her face tucked into Dina’s neck. Ellie’s head resting on her shoulder she takes time to observe her girlfriend. There is a faint scar on her eyebrow that she reaches up and gently runs her fingers over, trying not to disturb Ellie too much. She traces the side of her face down to her jaw where she rests her hand. She looks at all the freckles visible in the low light and thinks about counting them to try and fall asleep but decides against it. Dina leans forward and presses a soft kiss against Ellie’s forehead and lets her lips linger. She feels Ellie take in a deep breath and release a content sounding sigh before cuddling impossibly closer. This kind of Ellie, the one that people other than her and Joel get to see, is Dina’s favorite. Where Ellie feels safe enough to just be herself and let go, be more honest and open with her affections. Only Dina gets to see this side of her and she is forever grateful that Ellie trusts her enough. It wasn’t always like this between them. Ellie was very closed off when she and Joel first arrived in Jackson and for good reason now that she knows more about her. The bite, no matter how well she tried to hide it, was the talk of the town and kept a lot of people at bay from her. She reaches further down to trace the familiar pattern underneath the ink and feels Ellie tighten her hold around her waist and shift slightly closer, Dina presses another kiss to her forehead in hopes that she hasn’t woken her. Ellie’s eyes still remain closed and her breathing even, so Dina goes back to her silent observation of her sleeping girlfriend. 

Dina remembers the first time she ever saw Ellie. She and Joel had arrived at Jackson a few years ago, both looking haggard and as if they had just stepped out of hell. Both of them were pretty closed off, not really talking to anyone other than Tommy and Maria the first few months. Dina had seen her around sure, there were odd jobs people did around Jackson to help the community. Dina mostly worked in the medical building, but sometimes she would help out in the stables or the community garden. Dina would see Ellie walk by with Joel, on their way to work on repairing part of the wall around Jackson. Sometimes she would even see Ellie in the stables brushing down the horses, but it took them a while to actually say anything to each other. 

It took weeks for Ellie to even respond to Dina, she would try to talk to the girl whenever they were stationed on the watch towers together or at the stables but she would always remain stubbornly silent to Dina’s teasing. It’s funny to look back on it now. Ellie still isn’t the most talkative person, but she makes an effort with Dina. She tells jokes, that are always terrible, and she’s opened up to Dina about some things. Dina knows about Riley, and what happened in the winter before she and Joel came to Jackson. She knows about the fireflies. Ellie told her all of these things in some attempt to scare her away, but all it did was make Dina admire her even more. Lots of people have been through some messed up stuff since this whole apocalypse thing started, but Ellie is still standing. Ellie likes to think she’s a bad ass, and in regards to fighting she absolutely is, but she’s a total softy and still very compassionate despite all that she’s been through. That’s one of the things Dina loves most about Ellie.   
In her absentminded thinking, she had been gently rubbing up and down Ellie’s arm, when she shifts her weight more on top of Dina. Ellie blinks blearily up at her from under her lashes and furrows her brow.  
“Something wrong?” It comes out a little slurred since Ellie is fighting sleep. Dina shakes her head and moves to run her hand up and down Ellie’s spine. If Dina didn’t know any better she would almost say that Ellie purrs at the attention, but she holds back her teasing for now.   
“Just can’t sleep. Brain won’t stop thinking.” Ellie hums in acknowledgement and begins placing soft kisses against Dina’s neck in an act of comfort. Dina wraps her arms more firmly and continues her ministrations, giving Ellie’s forehead and then cheek a kiss in return. She feels Ellie run her hand up and down on her side lazily, trying to reciprocate Dina’s soothing ministrations. Dina hums and closes her eyes, feeling the fatigue start to set in. With Ellie firmly wrapped around her and sleep warm in her arms she might finally be able to fall asleep.


End file.
